Box making machine



Jan. 13, 1942.

c. A. MOELLER BOX MAKING MACHINE INVENTOR J,M clwqdblu ATTORNEY Filed Feb. 12, 1940 Patented Jan. 13, 1942 XIUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOX MAKING MACHINE Carl A. Moeller, Randolph, Mass., assignor to N drfolk Paper 00., Inc., Randolph, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application February 12, 1940, Serial No. 318,481

I (or. 93-51) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a box making machine.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved box making machine in which provision is made for facilitating the operation of aligning the box forming pocketand plunger with one another whereby to enable the machine to be set up in a minimum time and with minimum labor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved box making machine of the type forming the subject matter of the United States patent to Clafi and Joplin, No. 1,721,431, in order to permit the machine to be more readily set up for the manufacture of boxes of difi'erent sizes and in addition to facilitate the alignment of the box forming pocket with its plunger.

With these general objects in View and such others as may hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the box forming machine andin the various structures, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and particularly defined in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the drawing illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a detail view in cross-section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3 and illustrating a pocket in which a box is formed; Fig. 3 is a side View of the pocket shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a. perspective view of a portion of the pocket adjusting mechanism and, Fig. 5 is a detail view in cross-section of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

In the machine illustrated in the Claff and Joplin Patent No. 1,721,431, provision is made for forming the separate blanks from which the box is constructed from supply rolls of cardboard or other fibrous box forming material and for positioning the separate blanks between a plunger member and a pocket member, by which in the operation of the machine, the blanks are assembled in box forming relation. The pocket member preferably comprises one of a series of similar members mounted upon a rotatable spider, and provision is made for completing the formation of the box while the spider is rotated to successive stations and finally the completed box is ejected from the machine. Inasmuch as the difi'erent features of the present invention refer particularly to the apparatus for assembling the separate blanks in box forming relation, it is believed unnecessary to include further description of the Clafi and Joplin patent box mak- I ing machine, reference being made to said Patent No. 1,721,431, and only suificient portions of the complete box machine have been herein illustrated and will be described as appear to be necessary for a complete understanding of the present invention.

In practice during the operation of forming the box, a reciprocatory plunger cooperates with a stationary forming member to shape up the body blank and upon subsequent movement of the plunger, the end blanks are engaged and the blanks are forced into a pocket whereby the separate blanks are assembled in box forming relation. In the operation of the machine perfect alignment of the reciprocating plunger with the pocket is essential in order to enable the machine to produce satisfactory boxes. In practice, when changing the machine over to run a difierent size of box, considerable difiiculty has been experienced in aligning the pocket member with its cooperating plunger, it sometimes being necessary to supply shims or other means between the mounting and the pocket in order to obtain perfect alignment. This difficulty increased the set- 1 up time to a considerable degree so that substantial time was consumed in changing the machine over to run a different size box.

The present invention aims to provide a construction of pocket and mounting therefor, by which the pocket may be readily received to adapt the machine to run different sizes and which enable alignment of the pocket with its cooperating plunger to be efiected in a minimum amount of time and with minimum efiort when setting the machine up to run a different size of box. Referring now to the drawing and as illustrated in the above mentioned Claff and Joplin Patent No. 1,721,431, the box forming mechanism includes a reciprocatory forming block 10 adapted to cooperate with a stationary forming member II by which the separate blanks are formed and assembled in a pocket M in box forming relation. The block II] is mounted on the lower end of a vertical plunger 16 and the pockets M in which the boxes are formed are mounted 90 degrees apart upon a rotatable spider I 8.

As herein shown, provision is made for removably supporting the pockets l4 upon the spider l8 and for enabling each pocket to be readilyaligned with the block ID. Each pocket is supported between two clamping members 20, 22 which are secured to slide members 24. 26 by bolts 25. The slide members 24, 26 are provided depending members 36, 38. Axial movement of.

the rod 40 is prevented by provision of a grooved and threaded collar 45 in cooperation with a stationary member 50 secured to the spider l8 by screws 52'. The grooved collar is normally secured to and arranged to rotate with the rod 40 by a set screw 48. A fiber plug 54 is provided under the set screw 48 in order to prevent damage to the threaded portion of the rod 40.

From the description thus far it will be apparent that upon rotation of the rod 40 in one direction, the clamping members 20, 22 will be brought away from each other while rotation of the rod 40 in an opposite direction will bring the clamping members toward each other and in clamping relation with the pocket l4. Rotation of the rod 40 may be effected in any usual manner such as by a wrench 56 fitted over the squared end 58 of the rod.

Provision is made for centralizing the pocket l4 thus supported and securely clamped upon the spider l8 so that it will be in alignment with its cooperating plunger block In. In order to centralize the pocket with relation to the plunger block provision is made for permitting axial movement of the rod 40. This axial movement is accomplished by loosening the set screw 48 and rotating the threaded collar 46 without rotating the rod whereby the pocket I4 and the clamping members are moved bodily either to the right or left according to the direction of rotation of the threaded collar.

In practice the machine is turned over by hand until the block 10 together with the box members enter the pocket in its adjusted position whereupon the set screw 48 is again tightened to retain the pocket in alignment. The spider is then rotated and each of the remaining pockets are likewise adjusted.

From the above description that the construction of the pocket adjusting and aligning mechanism of the present invention is such as to greatly reduce the set-up time when changing the machine over to run a different size box and eliminate the necessity of providing shims formerly required in order to obtain the desired alignment.

While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described in connection with apparatus particularly designed for use in the Claif and Joplin box making machine, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific forms of apparatus shown in the drawing or adapted only for use in said machine, as it may be embodied in other forms and constructions within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a box making machine, in combination, a box shaped pocket and a plunger insertible into the pocket to force the blanks therein, a supporting member for removably supporting said pocket to permit the size of the pocket to be varied, including clamping members, and means it will be observed for aligning the pocket with relation to the plunger after being clamped to said supporting member.

2. In a box making machine, in combination, a box shaped pocket and a plunger insertible into the pocket to force the blanks therein, means for supporting said pocket including a supporting member, clamping members adapted to clamp and hold said pocket upon the supporting member and means for adjusting the pocket and clamping members as a unit with relation to the supporting member whereby to align said pocket with its plunger.

3. In a box making machine, in combination,

a box shaped pocket and a plunger insertible into the pocket to force the blanks therein, a rotatable spider provided with means for supporting a plurality of said box forming pockets, each of said last named means including clamping members adapted to clamp and hold each pocket to the spider, and means for adjusting each pocket with its clamping members as a unit with relation to the spider whereby to align each pocket with said plunger.

4. In a box making machine, in combination, a rotatable spider, a plurality of box shaped pockets mounted at spaced intervals thereon, a plunger insertible into successive pockets after they have been moved into box forming position, clamping members for engaging two of the opposite sides of the box shaped pocket, and mechanism carried by the spider for simultaneously moving the clamping members into and from clamping position, and means for effecting movement of the clamping members and the pocket as a unit with respect to said spider in order to align the pocket with the plunger.

5. In a box making machine, in combination, a box shaped pocket, a plunger adapted to force box blanks into the pocket, a supporting member, and means for removably mounting the pocket upon the supporting member including two clamping members for engaging opposite sides of the pocket, at right and a left nut mounted upon and depending from the respective clamping members, a threaded member having right and left threaded portions upon which the correspondingly threaded nuts are mounted, a stationary membersecured to the supporting member and through which the threaded member extends, and a nut on the threaded member cooperating with the stationary member to normally prevent axial movement of the threaded member upon rotation thereof, said nut being capable of effecting axial movement of said threaded member upon rotation of the nut with respect to the threaded member whereby to effect movement of the clamping members and pocket as a unit for aligning purposes.

6. In a box making machine, in combination, a box shaped pocket, a plunger insertable therein for forcing box blanks into the pocket, and means for detachably mounting the pocket including two clamping members, a threaded rod having right and left threaded portions arranged to cooperate with said clamping members, a threaded collar rotatable with said rod and through which said threaded rod extends, means engageable with the collar for preventing axial movement of said rod upon rotation thereof whereby to effect simultaneous movement of the clamping members into and from clamping position, said threaded collar being capable of effecting axial movement of said threaded rod upon rotation of the collar with respect to the rod whereby to effect movement of the clamping members and pocket as a unit for aligning purposes.

'7. In a box making machine, in combination, a box shaped pocket, a plunger insertable therein for forcing box blanks into the pocket, and means for detachably mounting the pocket including a supporting member, a. pair of clamping members slidably mounted in the supporting member, a threaded rod having left and right threaded portions cooperating with said clamping members to effect the clamping operation upon rotation thereof, a grooved and threaded collar mounted on and rotatable with said rod, and means carried by said supporting member engageable with said grooved collar to prevent axial movement of said rod during the clamping operation, said collar being capable of effecting axial movement of said-rod upon rotation of the collar with respect to the rod whereby to effect movement of said clamping members and the pocket clamped therebetween as a unit with relation to said supporting member to align the pocket with said plunger.

CARL A. MOEILER. 

